the ashes, cinders, and loose stones, thrown up during the
eruption. It had become separated by a deep ravine from the
remainder of the former summit, which afterwards came to be
distinguished by the name Monte Somma. The whole of the forests,
vineyards, and other luxuriant vegetation, which had covered that
portion of the sides of Vesuvius where the eruption took place,
were destroyed. Nothing could be more striking than the contrast
between the beautiful appearance of the mountain before this
catastrophe, and its desolate aspect after the sad event. This
remarkable contrast forms the subject of one of Martial's Epigrams,
lib. iv. Ep. 44. It is thus rendered by Mr. Addison:--

[Illustration: Vesuvius after the Eruption of A.D. 79.]

"Vesuvius covered with the fruitful vine
Here flourished once, and ran with floods of wine.
Here Bacchus oft to the cool shades retired,
And his own native Nysa less admired.
Oft to the mountain's airy tops advanced,
The frisking Satyrs on the summit danced.
Alcides [1] here, here Venus graced the shore,
Nor loved her favourite Lacedaemon more.
Now piles of ashes, spreading all around,
In undistinguished heaps deform the ground.
The gods themselves the ruined seats bemoan,
And blame the mischiefs that themselves have done."

[1. Hercules]

Since the eruption of A.D. 79, Vesuvius has had many fits of